


Losing My Mind

by roseverdict



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen, Lance is technically there but he's out cold the whole time skdbsodjskd, also hah lewis might not be able to say words, during The Future when they're in the truck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:54:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27356062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseverdict/pseuds/roseverdict
Summary: Arthur and Lewis (kinda) have a little talk and clear a few things up.or, two dudes in a truck! two dudes in a truck! my braincells, my braincells, involuntarily SCREAMor, SO HOWSABOUT THAT NEW VIDEO HUH???
Relationships: Arthur & Lance (Mystery Skulls Animated), Arthur & Lewis (Mystery Skulls Animated)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 244





	Losing My Mind

**Author's Note:**

> IS "LOSING MY MIND" THE TITLE OR JUST MY CURRENT MENTAL STATE
> 
> NOBODY KNOWS!!!
> 
> _Anyway_ MSA hyperfixation go brrrrr in the wake of The Future so here’s 1.2K words of Arthur and Lewis in the truck! _**No beta, we die like Lewis! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA i am in agony**_
> 
> Content Warnings: None! :D This is Arthur’s POV while he has A Lot Of Emotions All At Once though, so that’s A Thing.
> 
> ~~ _**my readmore, my readmore, on mobile i’m gonna flex-** _ ~~

Lewis fell to his knees.

Arthur blinked, the blinding terror at Lewis’s glare dropping back down into the manageable level of his background anxieties.

(And he was _absolutely_ going to panic anew as soon as he had the chance, because _Lewis was DEAD???_ )

The locket was _clearly_ important to Lewis, if his possessiveness of it was any indication, but…

Arthur could’ve sworn he’d seen the image inside begin to _change._

Before, it had just shown Lewis and Vivi, and Lewis’s eyes had been hidden away, but now it…it showed all four of them.

Arthur forced down his nerves and scooted closer, wispy, ethereal hope swirling just within reach.

In a voice just as breathless as before, but a thousand times more concerned, he asked, “Lewis?”

Lewis’s skull turned to face him, eyesockets wide and cheekbones slick with liquid shadows.

Oh, hell.

Lewis was _crying._

Arthur’s own eyes widened, but a moment later, he schooled his face into something less shocked. “Unless you have any objections, I’m gonna hug ya now. That sound alright?”

Lewis moaned, his voice echoing, but blinked and reached for where his jaw should’ve been. He groaned quietly in annoyance, then turned his attention back on Arthur and nodded carefully.

Arthur’s lips twitched up in an unsure grin as he scooted the rest of the way across the floor, and he only hesitated a moment before wrapping his right arm around Lewis’s shoulders and pulling him in.

And _oh,_ his twitchy mind reminded him of when they were children and Lewis had almost been hit by a car. He’d managed a calm facade up until the moment he’d managed to get Lewis in a hug, at which point he’d completely broken down.

It was happening again.

“Lewis, I-!” Arthur’s voice jumped a good few octaves with a crack, and he had to take a moment before going on. “I just…when? _How?_ ”

In response, Lewis clutched his locket tighter, turning slightly and using his right arm to poke Arthur’s left shoulder once.

Arthur’s mind stuttered to a halt.

“I…? _I_ did…?”

He swallowed down the bile in his throat. “I’ve been _looking_ for you this entire time, Lewis! I can’t- if it really _was_ me, why can’t I remember? _Why can’t I remember what would make me kill my best friend?!_ ”

Lewis was watching him in shock now, slowly sliding Arthur’s one-armed embrace off, but Arthur was too busy sinking into a horrible realization to notice.

_What was the one place he couldn’t remember, the place that tore the Mystery Skulls to shreds in the first place?_

Arthur’s hands reached to clutch at his head, digging into his scalp in an effort to keep him grounded as he stumbled back.

“No.”

(Yes.)

“The _Cave???_ ”

(The Cave.)

“But then _that_ would mean-!”

(Lewis had been dead the entire time.)

“And then the reason my arm was gone is because-?!”

(Somehow, his arm was connected to Lewis’s death.)

“And all this time trying to get you back was-!”

(Wasted.)

“Because…because you're…”

(Dead.)

“And _I’m_ …”

(The reason why.)

“Oh my g…” Arthur slapped his hands over his mouth in an effort to keep himself from throwing up. He tore his eyes away from the truck’s flooring to stare at Lewis.

Ghostly, floating, wide-eyed Lewis.

Not living, breathing, hair-in-his-eyes Lewis.

He knew it couldn’t even _begin_ to make up for whatever had happened in the Cave, but he still had to say _something._

His voice shook, and it was all he could do to force out a “Lewis, I’m so _sorry._ ” before it got too thick to do anything except wail.

Arthur’s eyes started burning, and he screwed them shut in a vain effort to preserve what shreds of dignity he had left. He sucked in a shuddering breath, and his hands slipped a little higher up on his face, conveniently close to the acidic moisture in his eyes.

**_“Ar-oor…”_ **

Arthur looked up at that, realizing with a start that Lewis had drifted closer…

…and had oily tears trickling down his skull again.

Lewis reached forward as if to pull Arthur into a hug, but with a glance at his hand, he stopped, seemingly warring with himself over it.

That was all the invitation Arthur needed.

He rocked forward and grabbed onto Lewis, pressing his face into the ethereal suit and sniffling. “M-missed ya, big guy…”

It took a second, but Lewis’s arms came down and wrapped around him, and his ribcage hitched in a mimicry of the same sobs that wracked Arthur’s body.

For a moment, all was calm.

For a moment, Arthur let himself believe it was over.

Then Lewis’s grip tightened, and Arthur barely had enough time to look up and notice the _fear_ on Lewis’s skull before he made them both dive to the ground, _lifting an arm to raise a wall of magenta flames between them and the-_

_**-KRAKABOOM!** _

Arthur’s vision darkened, and for a moment he considered letting himself fall unconscious.

Then he saw Lewis’s firewall (heh) flicker out of being, and he pushed himself up onto his elbows with a grimace.

(If he’d found Lewis only to lose him moments later, _he was gonna-!_ )

Thankfully, while Lewis had gone sprawling, he seemed to still be moving, so Arthur sat up the rest of the way and started gathering his uncle in his arms.

In the back of his mind, he realized he _really_ shouldn’t be so calm after nearly blowing up, but he was on cloud nine, so.

Sucked to be his voice of reason.

“What was _that?_ ” Arthur asked, shifting Lance until he was over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and pulling Lewis up with his free arm.

Lewis made a wordless “I'unno” noise and peered out past the wreckage of the truck.

Arthur joined him just in time to gasp as Crazy-Tree-Lady-colored vines shot towards them, enveloping them and closing in-

Lewis snarled and flung a fireball at the nearest vine, then turned to Arthur and pointed at him. **“Oo!”**

Then he pointed at Lance. **“Uh-oo!”**

He pointed out through the hole in the vines he’d created, where Kingsmen Mechanics could be seen before the writhing mass of plants closed the gap. _**“Oh!”**_

_You. Uncle. Go._

Had they had more time, Arthur would have protested, would have insisted he get to stay.

As it was, he just nodded once. “Got it!”

Lewis burnt another hole in Crazy Tree Lady’s plants, and Arthur shot out into the parking lot like a bullet from a gun.

Rustling behind him made him glance over his shoulder, but the vine going after him was already burning away.

Arthur grinned and leapt into Kingsmen Mechanics, setting Lance down and glancing around for a moment, searching for a weapon.

(Outside, an icy fog swept across the parking lot.)

Yes, Lewis was dead. Yes, apparently Arthur’s arm had been what killed him. _Yes, Arthur was definitely going to panic once everything calmed down._

(The commotion outside seemed to have died down, but he didn’t trust like that.)

But Lewis had just saved him from Crazy Tree Lady. _Twice._ And they’d been hugging for the first time in _far_ too long just beforehand!

(Something made a solid _thwack,_ and a shape crumbled in the corner of his vision.)

That had to count for _something,_ and Arthur wasn’t about to let some bloodthirsty plant take his friends away from him!

…The bloodcurdling howl that split the air a moment later, combined with the way his prosthetic flailed around before dragging him towards Lewis and Vivi, however, did _not_ bode well.

**Author's Note:**

> I cranked this out this morning and am in AGONY
> 
> (also this one's dedicated to Crossover Enthusiast for dropkicking me into The Biggest Pile Of Serotonin on the hanahaki fic)


End file.
